The Mountain Lake PBS Pollination Station is back and blooming in its fourth year on the lawn of 1 Sesame Street—our home base in Plattsburgh, NY.
Each year we tend our garden with love and care, proudly acting as pollinator advocates in our community. The Pollination Station’s four honeycomb shaped garden beds are jam-packed with pollinator-friendly plants, providing food in the summer and shelter during winter for butterflies, birds, and bees.
This July has lived up to its reputation as the dog days of summer, full of hot hot heat and heavy rainfall alike. With the help of the intense summer weather, the native plant species in our Pollination Station have grown rapidly right before our eyes! In the past month we’ve seen pink clusters of Swamp Milkweed and bright yellow Helen’s Flower shoot up to the sky with scarlet strands of Cardinal Flower snaking in between them!
The heartiest plants, Clustered Mountain Mint and Nodding Onion, have returned in full force and continue to thrive in large bunches throughout the garden. We’re happy to see that some of the more delicate plants are also in full bloom, like the Spotted Bee Balm and White Turtlehead. Despite these lush and colorful successes, some of our plants have struggled or ceased to bloom though. Neither the Brown-Eyed Susan or Great Blue Lobelia have made an appearance this summer and the Golden Ragwort, while it’s leaves are bushy and broad, has yet to sprout any of its signature yellow starburst flowers.
This year’s crop of vibrant plants have brought with them a variety of flying and creepy-crawling pollinators, all looking to enjoy the nectar, pollen and protection these plants offer. And those aren’t the only visitors to the Pollination Station! On July 20th we hosted a Pinkalicious PBS KIDS Play Date full of hands-on activities, crafts, and snacks. Families interested in exploring the garden had a chance to check it out after experimenting at the nearby sun art activity station on the station’s front lawn. We love to show off the garden and can’t wait to do it again at our next family event!
As the summer marches on we’re excited for what else might blossom and all the flying, hopping, and walking visitors who decide to pop by! Be sure to check back in for more updates on the Pollination Station with our Learn & Play blog and on social media.
In the meantime, keep scrolling to learn more about what pollinator gardens are, how you can start your very own, and activities to encourage a passion for gardening and environmental stewardship in your family.
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What Is a Pollinator Garden?
A pollinator garden features flowers that provide nectar or pollen to a variety of pollinating insects, like bees, butterflies and moths. Native flowering plants – ones that come from the geographic area a garden is in – are best, and pesticides and other chemicals should be avoided when caring for them. In the Adirondacks this could include bee balm, milkweed, white turtlehead, mountain mint, and phlox. These gardens are beautiful and can help attract birds and other wildlife too!
Interested in starting your own pollinator garden but don’t know how? Sign up below to receive a free packet of wildflower seeds from the Adirondack Pollinator Project, courtesy of AdkAction.
The Adirondack Pollinator Project
The Adirondack Pollinator Project helps promote the health of pollinators in our ecosystem, provides resources to become a pollinator advocate, and helps communities plant more local wildflowers to help supply pollinators with the food sources they need to survive and thrive. AdkAction partners with The Wild Center, Northern New York Audubon, and Paul Smiths College to support ongoing activities of the Adirondack Pollinator Project.
As part of the project’s Pollinator Garden Assistance Program, AdkAction has used their Mobile Pollinator Garden Trailer to plant community-scale pollinator gardens around the Adirondacks—including the one at Mountain Lake PBS! Each summer, their annual Adirondack Pollinator Festival offers opportunities to buy native plants for your own garden and includes free kids activities, conservation workshops and more.
Activities, Books & More
Pollinator Pathway Game
Grades PreK-3
In this all-new Nature Cat game, collect nectar for pollinators like bumblebees and butterflies to help them get the energy they need! Learn some nature-tastic facts all about pollinators and the big part they play in our environment along the way.
Gardening With Kids: How It Affects Your Child’s Brain, Body and Soul
Grades PreK-3
Planting a garden can affect not only your child’s body but also their brain and soul.
Flight of the Pollinators | Wild Kratts
Grades K-2
Join Chris and Martin as they explore the process of pollination and learn the important partnership between plants and animals. Watch these video clips to see how the Kratt brothers uncover the amazing delivery system of plants and their animal partners.
Best Gardening Books for Kids
Grades PreK-6
Inch by inch, row by row, learn to make your garden grow! Browse through these seed-filled reads and explore the outdoors through books.
Reclaiming Habitat for Honeybees
Grades 6-8
Explore the role of pollinators in the ecosystems they are a part of. In this interactive lesson, develop a written response to one of three questions about the importance of honeybees. Gather evidence from reading assignments and video segments about Coal Country BeeWorks’ efforts to reclaim surface mining sites.
Pollination and Community Action: Middle Schoolers Build a Pollinator Garden | Mountain Lake Journal
Grades 6-12
A group of middle school students in the Adirondacks get their hands dirty building a pollinator garden on school property. Follow along as the students learn about the importance of pollinators, pollinator plants, and community action.
For past updates on our Pollination Station, check out our other buzzworthy posts!